During a harvesting and production process for grain, the grain typically undergoes various grain handling stages. For example, a grain handling process may begin at a farm, where the grain is harvested and placed into a truck. The grain may be taken to an on-farm storage facility for storage, handling, and/or processing. Afterwards, the grain may be transported to long term storage, to a livestock facility site, or to an off-farm facility for processing. In later stages, the grain may be transported domestically or internationally to an end user and/or may be further processed. These grain handling stages are merely exemplary, and other grain handling stages are possible.
At any or all of these stages, however, the possibility exists for commingling of the grain with other product or foreign matter, or for other problems, such as damage, theft, etc. This concern has increased significantly in recent times with greater awareness of food security issues. It thus is desirable to have an indication of the history of a particular grain. To date, this problem is believed to have gone unsolved in the grain industry.